Sales & Earnings

Torrent is recalibrating strategy with the addition of chronic therapies from Dr. Reddy’s while it folds up an unsustainable liquids business in US. The latter resulted in the company reporting a Q4 loss but a timely bonus share issue propped up investor sentiment.

The sharp escalation in prices of raw materials, solvents, excipients and logistics in a volatile operating environment charged by geopolitical tensions and supply chain challenges was one of the key talking points at the fiscal fourth quarter earnings discussions of leading Indian firms. With little hope for respite any time soon, companies are devising strategies to cope.

Zydus is pivoting to a multivariant version of its plasmid DNA vaccine against COVID-19, ZyCoV-D, after the original didn’t receive an encouraging response. It also looks to launch a Revlimid generic in the second wave while an opportunity might soon emerge from Takeda’s Pentasa.

Some commercial-stage biotechnology companies blame the pandemic for their declining sales and continued losses. While an acquisition by a bigger company might once have been an aspiration, further fundraisings seem to be the more likely outcome.

Momentum for Dr Reddy’s in China as a string of approvals including for lenalidomide come through, while it appears to be on an even keel in Russia, a market where several foreign firms have cutback activities in the wake of the Ukraine conflict. Will the Indian firm’s Russia strategy payback?

As it prepares to file lebrikizumab for atopic dermatitis, the Spanish group is looking to expand into vitiligo through a collaboration with France’s Inserm Transfert to develop topical therapies for the condition where pale patches develop on the skin caused by the lack of melanin.

Another blow-out quarter from Pfizer provided the impetus for an acquisition. But the history of recent commercial-stage biotech transactions and the risky nature of all early-stage companies suggest that the floodgates will not burst open.

Despite the impact of the war in Ukraine and spiralling costs, as well as lower COVID-19-based revenues, the German group is forecasting a healthy financial performance for full-year 2022.

As Takeda reported what its CEO described as "a remarkable year," the company sees itself as well positioned to ride out the expiries over the next few years of exclusivity for several big-selling products, as it looks to mainstays and more organic growth to tide it over the "temporary headwinds."

With its IPO of Bausch + Lomb bringing in $630m in proceeds, Bausch Health is moving forward with its plan to use the eye care unit’s separation to pay down its remaining debt.

With Nubeqa establishing itself as a strong option for prostate cancer, Bayer is shifting its short-term focus from oncology onto cardiovascular and plotting a late-stage plan for asundexian, its follow-up to Xarelto.

A post-pandemic rebound in oncology sales contrasts with the lagging revenues of drugs administered by primary care and office-based specialists. Declining COVID-19 vaccine, diagnostic and treatment revenues could add further volatility.